One Tiny Emoji, One Big Win for Fynbos?
Afternoon Drive with John Maytham · 17 July 2026 · 5m
Speaker 1: I don't use many emojis. I have started using them a little more. I do Speaker 1: occasionally use them. I'm still not somebody who litters every WhatsApp with the thousand emojis. Speaker 1: And I didn't realize that there wasn't in the fruit and Vegetable and plant section. Speaker 1: I didn't realize that the protea wasn't represented there. And when I was told that, Speaker 1: I immediately got indignant and said, of course, of course the protea should be one Speaker 1: of the four thousand emojis that are available at the moment on our phones. And Speaker 1: I was told that by a nature reserve here in the Sudden Cape that is Speaker 1: trying to persuade the responsible body to put the protea there as an emoji. Vicaus Speaker 1: Embracht is communications manager of the Wild Rescue Nature Reserve. Hello Vigus H. Speaker 2: John, thank you for having us. Speaker 1: How does one persuade I mean, there's this think called the unicode canutium and you Speaker 1: have to write them and make a case to add one to the list. Speaker 2: That's correct. It doesn't just happen by itself or easily. We had to submit to Speaker 2: a formal proposal, which there's a window for area to the Unicorn Unicode Consortium, and Speaker 2: they're the organization internationally that decides which symbols get put on our devices and all Speaker 2: our international symbols. So we did a thorough proposal for them and now it's in Speaker 2: their hands. So wild Rescue Nature is a really yeah, and the conservation world, we'll Speaker 2: always be moaning the fact that we don't have a Fameboe species or a protea Speaker 2: on our phones that…
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